Massively conCERNed
by agardner99
Summary: I open my door. The glowing sphere gets larger and begins to pulse. Suddenly, a flash of light comes over me and a figure appears where the sphere was. This story tells of the adventures of a boy and a character from the far future, stuck on a pre - space flight planet..Twenty-first century Earth. Semi-SI.
1. An unexpected arrival

A/N: This is (sort of) my first fanfic, so any response and advice is welcome.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Mass Effect Trilogy and any other franchise I make references to. Sadly.

"Holy shit. He did it."

The Crucible glows a faint orange, as the Citadel's arms open wider than ever before; it forms a five-leafed flower of metal, glass and plastic. The remaining Alliance and Salarian ships, followed by a few Terminus vessels, scurry out of the way of the colossal Wards, almost being crushed. A ball of orange...energy? Forms at the centre of the massive array, expanding rapidly and disabling Reaper and Geth ships. The galaxy's "Final Stand" is over, it seems, as ships jump to FTL before getting hit by the wave.

"Joker! Get us out of here! We can't get him now!" - Garrus shouts in desperation.

"No! I can still-" He replies, but in his heart he knows the Turian is right. His shoulders sag, and he maneuvers the Normandy to the nearest relay.

3..2..1..FTL.

"DAMN", I think, "this ending cutscene is even more intense than the last moments of gameplay!"

Then I see the Normandy on an uncharted world. It looks fairly beat up. Joker stumbles out, followed by Tali.I sure am glad that she survived! I would never admit it to anyone, but she was my favorite character, not quite as a LI, but as a character of strong will, tech savvy beyond compare, a sweet soul and cool accent.

The cutscene end on a brighter note, leaving me overall pleased. Roll the credits, play the song.

The touching moment is interrupted by my cat, who, being the annoying but lovable furrball she is, scratches on my door. I look up to the clock. "3 AM.." I mutter. I shouldn't really be up this late, but with my parents away for the next 2 weeks and no school for the rest of the summer, I had no better thing to do, apart from bicycling around Moscow and working on my cosplay N7 - ish helmet. For now, however, it stood on the table, waiting for the last layer of paint to dry.

The scratching on the door became more and more insistent, accompanied by a few meowls. She would not lay off, it seems. I sighed, getting out of my chair and stretching my legs. As I open the door, I hear a strange sound coming from my living room. That would seem to be what scared the cat, for she, as soon as I opened the door, zoomed in and hid under the bed. Then, a strange clattering noise. I am not a coward(much), but being alone at home at night and hearing noises can do truly wierd stuff with your imagination. I decide to investigate further, but, assuming it might be a burglar, I grab my red shiny crowbar off the shelf, more a geeky Half Life reference than a weapon of self-defense, but in lack of a better option, It will have to do.

"Here goes", I whisper, and say out loud:"Who's there?"

Wait.

No one responds, but that was expected: no normal robber would be so dumb.

The noise becomes louder, though, and sounds like whirring wind in a confined space. I grip the crowbar tighter with my - now sweaty - palms and slowly advance.

I enter the living room, and, expecting a person, am surprised to see a glowing ball -no, a sphere- of blue-purple light. It seems to be the source of the noise. I reach out to touch it, put rapidly pull my hand back as I feel a slight tingling on my fingers and palm. The feeling subsides slowly, but I got goosebumps along my arm and spine nonetheless.

" 'The hell IS this?" I ask no one In particular. The sphere begins to pulsate and grow, and the lights begin to flicker. I take a step back, still unsure what to do, but decide to wait and see; one thing is for certain: I won't need the crowbar, so I lower it and stare at the sphere in amazement, mesmerised by the amazing display of light and sound. It has now reached the size of a hoola-hoop and still grows.

"This is some trippy shit" - I mutter.

Suddenly, the sphere collapsed into a single point and a wave of white light washes over me and burns my eyes.

"Shit!" - I scream as I flinch and cover my aching eyes. Then, as suddenly as it began, it was over: the light was gone, the sound stopped. I uncovered my eyes, but it was as dark as it was when they were closed.

Have I gone blind!? I looked around the room in a slight panic, and my eyes adjusted to the dark. The sphere must have overloaded a fuse and blew out the lights or something. Wait.. the sphere!

I look to where it was, but there is no sphere there. Instead, there stands...a woman!? I still cannot make out the details, but it seems that she is about my hight and wearing a hood.. and helmet with a tinted visor and a light on the mouth area.

It can't be.

Can it?

She looks around her frantically, and brings up her arm, as if to check a watch. Instead, though, her arm lights up orange and she types a few thing into it and starts scanning the room.

It is!

I walk up to her slowly, still not believing my eyes. She has not noticed me yet. I stop a metre or so away from her, and call out:

"Excuse me?"

"Keelah!" - she shouts, almost jumping away in shock from being startled. I retreat too, taken aback from this sudden reaction. That voice sounded familiar...

She seems to calm down a little, but is still very agitated as she turns to me and speaks...gibberish. I realise, I don't have a translator! I wave my hand for her to stop, and ask, assuming she does have one, very slowly: "Can you understand me?"

She nods quickly. "I can't understand you. Can you translate with that thing?" She hesitates, apparently thinking, but then nods again and re-activates her tool. She types a few words in her language and presses a few keys. She shows me the result and I read..or try to. It's in spanish. "I can't read that. Try English" -I explain.

She repeats the same operation and shows me again. It reads:

"Where am I? This place looks like an antique shop." I nod and reply: "This is Earth, Russia. We are in Moscow. This is the year..2014." She stares at me in disbelief for a moment, then bring up her tool and, after a few moment of scanning, types again and gestures for me to read.

"Looks like you are right. Do you have a communicator of some sort? I can modify it to speak directly to you."

I think for a moment, and silently hand her my mobile phone. I'm actually a bit surprised that it hadn't suffered from the spheres EM radiation. I'm a little worried about my phone, but I trust that it will be ok in her hands.

It takes her a few minutes to mod it,so I sit dow on the sofa, trying to calm down and try to wrap my head around what happened. Recap: A glowing ball of... something appears in my house and from it comes a video game character. Crazy! Yet.. here she is. I glance at her; my now accustomed to the dim light eyes study her: she is wearing a new environmental suit, the one she wore in ME2 and ME3, but it looked...newer. I still couldn't quite believe all this had happened. I must have fallen asleep in front of my screen. Is this a dream? Slapping oneself seems to never help in works of fiction, so I spared myself the pain. Alright. What Would Mister Spock Do? Analyse the situation. Right. I am thinking of this, aren't I? Therefore, unless it's an inception dream (BWAAHH) it is all IRL. If it isn't, well, let it last!

Interrupting my train of thought, Tali waves to me; it seems she is done. She points with one of her three fingers to a new...app, I guess? With a blank icon on my phone. I take it and press it, then bring it up to my ear. She speaks again, and I can still hear her voice, speaking in an unknown language, but with a moments' delay, her voice, now speaking english with an accent from...Rannoch, maybe?

"...Hello? Can you hear me?" She asks. I reply , not sure whether to speak into the microphone or directly to her:

"Yes. My name is Alex *******. How did you get here?" I already knew her name, but I had to be sure, "What is your name?"

" I am Tali'Zorah vas Neema. I-I'm not sure how I got here... My crew and I were investigating dark energy in the Haestrom system, and.. there was some sort of radiation pulse from the star, and it fried our ships systems. We were being pulled into its gravitational well, and I jettisoned in one of the escape pods, and then... here I am. Last i remember, i was in the pod. This might be difficult for you to understand, but i'm...from the future. 2185, by your calendar."

I knew, but had decided to play along. I raised my eyebrows and pretended to be surprised. That wasn't hard, considering that I was surprised, only for a slightly different reason. "Uhm..Can I get you some tea, then? Coffee, maybe?" The answer was obvious to me: no. Dextro-amino acid life forms cannot ingest levo-amino's(humans, for example) food. Best case scenario - Stomach cramps and diarrhoea, worst case - death. But I had not decided how and when I would explained the whole 'fictional character' business, so I would have to keep my trap shut and not reveal that I know anything.

"No, thank you. Is anyone else here?"

She asked, shaking her head.

"Just me and my cat."

Meow.

Speak of the devil.

The cat, who I had just mentioned, had walked over to the new guest. It always had a very outgoing personality and took well to new people. More so than even I did, in fact.

Tali looked uncertain what to do, so we both just looked at the feline as it began rubbing against her curved-back calf. The whole situation was becoming rather comical, as it was obvious that Tali'Zorah had never seen a cat before. She looked from the cat to me and back. It was difficult to read her facial expression with the mask and all, but here eyes gave away an expression of confusion. I could hold it in no longer, and what had started as a slight grin had grown into a burst of laughter. Seeing, however, that Tali looked even more confused, I tried to regain my composure and explained, still smiling:"That's the cat. It's my pet. Totally harmless. In fact, it seems she likes you." A slight purr could be heard from the cat. I walked over and picked it up.

Purr. Purr.

"ok..?" She relaxed her stance a little.

I decide to say something to release some of the awkward tension: "anyway, there must be some way that I can help you in,"-I wave a hand towards an armchair,- "take a seat."

She sits, and the cat immediately jump into her lap and snugs up to her. I can't help but chuckle at Tali's reaction: she raises her hands above the armrests and stares at the cat.

"Just pet it behind the ear and on the back." I say amusedly.

She starts awkwardly petting the cat, eliciting louder purrs despite her inexperience.

I cense this will be a long discussion.

Aaand, that's it for now. Tell me if you like it or not. Any-and I mean, ANY response would be welcome.

Peace out!

-agardner99


	2. The search begins

A/N:So yeah, the name is a bit of a giveaway for the plot, but my imagination ran short and I had to call it SOMETHING, so...yeah. BTW, thank you all of 7 people who reviewed, I will try to adjust to both positive and critical reviews, both of which are welcome. If you want me to actually respond, though, just PM me. I didn't expect to be taken seriously and I feel inspired to keep writing. But that's enough ego stroking. Without further ado (drum roll), I present to you, chapter 2. (Raise the curtains)

Chapter 2:

"So.. dark energy, huh? Maybe that is what transported you here. I'm no scientist, but...yeah." I begin the important part of the conversation.

Tali'Zorah looks up at the ceiling, contemplating that possibility. "Maybe. I can't see any other reason, but it merits further study."

I walk over to the kitchen, following the call of instant coffee, with Tali in tow. Despite the rather jarring events of the previous twenty minutes, I am yawning up a storm and struggling to remain awake. Maybe grab a snack or something. Yeah, an apple sounds great.

Although...

Despite my lack of social graces, I understand that eating in front of someone who can't even have a slice of pizza without writing their will first would probably not be the best idea. Just coffee it is, then.

"So," -I say, motioning for her to take a chair and sit at the table, and then sit across myself, -"where are you from? Your homeworld, I mean. I doubt you are human, right?" I point to her three-fingered gloves and boots, along with her arched-back calfs. She seems to tense up a bit, before finally answers, not looking at me directly, but avoiding my inquisitive gaze instead: "Well, you are right. I'm a quarian. Our Homeworld is Rannoch."

Strange. She didn't mention the -rather important- fact that they have been in exile from Rannoch for the past 300 years. Or the Geth at all, in fact. Odd. I decide to press the issue, and ask sternly: "But..? I sense that you aren't telling me the whole story here, Tali'Zorah." She looks away even more, hesitant to answer.

Ok, maybe that was a little too harsh.

"Just a hunch. I often get suspicious of people for no good reason. Just say'n."

She seems to relax a bit, and looks to me, probably doubting what is said. Well, a bad save is better than none, I suppose. We chat for a little longer, mostly about stuff I already know. Darn, this cell phone sure isn't designed for long discussions!

Fifteen minutes later I start dozing off, despite the mug of brown liquid stimulant still in my hand.

"Hey, Tali - do you mind if I call you that?-(she nods)-maybe we can continue this conversation tomorrow, because I am falling asleep on the spot. We can figure out a plan or something then."

She agrees, standing from the table. I realise that she has nowhere to bunk. Well, my sister's bed should be fine, considering that she is currently on another continent altogether.

"You can rest in the room down the hall, if you want. " "Sure," she yawns audibly, "I'll see you tomorrow, *******.", and she walks into the room, shutting the door on the way in."

Wait a moment.. she called me by my last name. If I hadn't known any better, I would think that to be a pun at the fact that no one seems to know the commander's first name, so they just refer to him, even in private, as simply 'Shepard'. It must be a future custom, or something. Oh well, figures.

I stumble off into my own room, where I find the ME3 start screen still looping away. Phew, glad I didn't think to show her around the house or anything. I quickly exit and shut down my PC. I climb into bed, almost Immediately joined by my favourite four-legged creature on earth. I fall asleep instantly, without even time to switch off the lights or think about the next day, and how events might roll out.

RING RING RING-

I quickly open my gummy eyes, trying to locate the source of the insistent noise.

-RING RING RING-

Ah crap, my alarm.

I roll over and almost crush the cat, who jumps away in the nick of time, grab the annoying yet effective bell alarm and fumble with it, trying to find the 'off' switch.

RING RING RIN-

There.

I climb out if bed, recollecting the events of the previous night. Among other things, it seems that I forgot to switch off my alarm, giving me a mere 6 hours of sleep. Nothing unusual, apart from the fact that I never use it in summer. Ugh.

I throw on some clothes and exit the room, remembering to take the cell phone. At least I remembered to set it on the charger.

I walk into the kitchen, where I find Tali inspecting the furniture and kitchenware. This must be quite interesting for her, just as visiting a museum would be for me, an alien museum at that. She picks up the kettle and studies it for a while, and then gives it a few slight knocks with her knuckles. It rings out with an echoing metallic sound, followed by the rustling of calc residue against the walls. She sets it down slowly.

"Mornin'," I say groggily, -"You 'been up for long?"

She turns to face me, crossing her arms. "It was only noon by my clock when I..ended up here." I've been up the whole time you were asleep." She gestures her thumb over her shoulder, pointing to the kitchen stuff. "Quite a collection of cooking tools you have here. On the Flotilla, we never cooked, food is dispensed pre-made."

I feign curiosity: "The Flotilla? What's that?" She averts her eyes again and says:"It's our..largest fleet of ships. A lot of quarians live their whole lives on it. It rarely stops at Rannoch, migrating around the galaxy instead. I spent most of my life there."

I remembered her not being fully honest with me the night before, but an ought-right lie? That was something I did not expect at all. Maybe she has a good reason to mislead me? I don't know.

Speaking of cooking, my stomach is starting to complain about the lack of food in it. "Are you hungry? I'll fry up some eggs," that being the only hot breakfast I can cook. That, and pancakes, but I wasn't in the mood to stand at the stove top for more than fifteen minutes. "Quarians can't eat human food, but I have a few condensed food tubes stowed away in my satchel, and, if bad comes to worse, I have some protein and supplement pills. All in all, I should be set for a week or so." Phew, that sure is a weight off my chest.

I begin preparing breakfast and start a pot of coffee. "So I guess we should start working on a way to get you back to where you belong, hm?" I crack a couple of eggs and pour them onto the pan, salt and pepper. Soon, they begin to sizzle. I pour myself a cup of coffee and take a sip. Ah, nectar of the gods! Tali watches the process with mild interest, and once it is complete, replies: "While you were sleeping, I reviewed some ship logs. They are compressed and saved onto our suits' microcomputer, so if anything happens to the vessel, each survivor -or recovered body- is a black box of sorts." I turn back to the stove, flipping the eggs and seasoning the other side. "By the way, why don't you take off your helmet? It must be rather stuffy in there. I have some experience with them, and without proper ventilation, it's a nightmare."

She responds somewhat sadly: "Quarians have a genetic predisposition for weak immune systems. It comes from living on a planet with very few harmful bacteria; most of them have either a symbiotic or neutral relationship with the native organisms. Then, we..started living on ships and stations with very sterile environment. That made it even worse, so now we are forced to wear environmental suits even on the Flotilla."

Having already known that, I thought it wouldn't faze me. But hearing it in real life was still...deeply saddening.

I stare at my feet, not sure what to say to that.

Smells like the eggs are ready, though. Just in time, too! I scoop the oval cholesterol-saturated mass of yellow and white and drop it onto a plate, cardiologists be damned. Meanwhile, Tali is messing with her omni-tool. "Here, these are the last few minutes of the ship's log. I'll run the audio through the translator." I sit down across from her at the table.

"You might as well eat while it plays, Tali. I imagine you're pretty hungry yourself." Se unzips a pocket of sorts on her side and takes out a small, unmarked tube the size of a toothpaste container, attaches it to her helmet right below the light. I hear a slight slurping sound, and the tube begins to shrink. Deciding now is a good time as any, I take a bite of my eggs. Slightly overdone, but not too bad. Just wish I had bacon..

My train of thought is interrupted by tali pressing a few keys on her tool, and we begin to listen.

"Sir, we've arrived at the designated system. What are your orders now?" Says a male voice. Another one, also male, responds: "The Admiralty Board has given us an assignment to investigate the star, something about it dying to fast. Tali'Zorah's the expert, ask her for details. For now, bring us in closer, our shield upgrades should let us be relatively close to it for a few hours." The first voice quips: "Aye Aye, sir. Bringing us in."

A few moments of silence pass, interrupted only by the beeps and boops of a control panel being used.

The pilot calls out to the captain, sounding confused: "Sir, I'm picking up some strange readings. There seems to be some sort of wave heading our way, but it doesn't register as any known form of radiation. It's originating from the star." The CO' order is drowned out by static. It lasts for about twenty seconds."The wave hit us and most of our systems either went out or began to malfunction," Says Tali. The static subsides, allowing me to hear the events happening on the bridge once more.

"-..put that fire out! And someone get the heat sinks back online!" Barks the CO of the ship. Another voice responds: " Sir, main thrusters are offline, we are being pulled in by the star! If we don't initiate them, we'll- aagh!" The sound of an explosion booms over the chaos of alerts and unintelligible shouts. "All hands, abandon ship! Get to the escape pods!" Shortly after, a VI speaks up:"escape pods launched, automated distress signal sent on all channels."

The CO breathed:"Keelah se'lai."

Another, louder explosion sounded and the recording ended.

I stared at Tali, whose tube was almost untouched and I could hear faint sobs coming from her. Even if I couldn't see her face, I knew that she was crying. I wanted to offer words of comfort, but couldn't find any. Sometimes, silence is better than words, I guess.

We finished breakfast without a word, and I washed up after cooking. "Maybe we can...reverse-engineer the exact conditions somehow? We would need a source of dark energy though..." she looks up at me and narrows her eyes:"And cause more death and destruction?"

I snap back: "Any better suggestions?" She says nothing, so I return to my room and fire up my PC.

Google: "Dark energy - Wikipedia"

This might take some time.


	3. Research and New Developments

Over the course of the past hour, I had searched for information on dark energy and its possible effects. Surprisingly, Wikipedia had offered little more than speculation on the topic and various theories and their implications; several cosmology-orientated forums, on the other hand, were rather informative. I even had an interesting discussion with the father of Floyd, my Swiss friend, who turned out to be a scientist at CERN; he confessed that dark energy wasn't his area of expertise, but he had taken an interest in the work of several of his colleagues, who he was assisting with upgrading the Large Hadron Collider for its restart in 2015. I had read about that a few weeks ago in an article in "Scientific American". They were retrofitting it to study dark matter, and -Bingo!- dark energy. Now that the existence of the Higgs boson was experimentally proven, they were moving on to a new, still unexplored topic, which until now had the scientific equivalent of a "Here Be Dragons" sign on its border.

"In short", he said in broken English, "Dark energy is what makes the universe's expansion accelerate because of its repulsive properties: according to one theory, it will eventually overcome gravitational force and rip apart all celestial bodies, then finally overpower both nuclear forces, ending In what is called the "Big Rip". Some even think it would tear the fabric of time and space if clumped up, but that is only a hypothesis. It is thinly spread across the universe, so it makes up about 70% of the universe. There are 2 theories of how it is spread; the universal constant, according to which its volume is the same in every point in space. The other one, the Quintessence

theory, says that it is dynamically spread, so its volume can vary through time and space. Both are plausible, since neither has decisive proof against the other." I asked him whether it was possible that, if the latter theory is true, would it be possible for it to condense. He said "Maybe, but it has not been discovered as such." I write back: "So, what exactly will you be doing with the LHC to study dark energy?" "We will be colliding electrons and positrons, protons and antiprotons, which we produce in tiny quantities here, and watching closely, whether among normal energy, the annihilation will produce any dark energy. Technically - and don't tell this to anyone- work was finished a week ago, yesterday we had finished fine-tuning and calibrating it, all that is left are the safety checks, then the board will do whatever it is they do, and we start!" I thanked him for his time and ended the chat. I think I found what I was looking for.

I am about to leave the room, but then I have a great idea. I walk over to the bookshelf and take a wireless earpiece off the top shelf. I check the battery status; green light. I insert it into my ear and make sure it fits snugly and comfortably, and walk to the living room, where Tali is sitting on the armchair and reading something on her omni-tool, the cat sitting in her lap. "Gotten used to her, have you?" I ask, leaning against the wall and activating the translation app. Her response comes through the earpiece, just as planned: "She grows on you. Does she have a name?"

I nod. "Dasha. So, what have you been up to?" She replies: "I was looking through the remaining ship logs and reviewing data on dark energy and the little information I could gather in the Haestrom system before..before..Keelah, 21 person on that ship.." She trails off.

I wait a few minutes until she calms back down and report the results of my own study and how I had an inside source from possibly the only man-made source of dark energy. She already knew the cosmological info I had given her, but the LHC had caught her attention. "Is it far from here?" We might be able to, if it really is operational, use it to transport me back." I stare at her in disbelief: "And how do you see that happening?" I play out the situation, -" 'Oh excuse me, can I use your totally new unchecked experimental dark energy factory to teleport this alien right here back to the future?'," -I turn around and take a step back, speaking for the scientist in a low voice: " 'Sure thing, kid! That will be ten bucks, and you, Ms. Alien, step right up onto this platform..." I return to my usual voice: "Not happening." We both chuckled at the thought, and then a mischievous sparkle lit up in her eyes: "Who said anything about asking?" I saw what she meant, but I still have my doubts: "You're suggesting breaking in to one of the world's largest research centers and _launching the LHC ourselves_!? Never mind actually getting there.."

I give it some thought; although there is one possibility.. "Tali, you're good at hacking stuff, right? Do you think you can manage to get us passage to Geneva, Switzerland? These days, most progressive countries deal with money and tickets electronically, so... I can give you access to the Internet, and you could work your magic." She tilts her head to one side and asks me coyly: "Give me access? I hacked into your home network last night!"

I facepalm. Oh well, not as if I didn't expect it to happen sooner or later. "But can you do it? We will need three things: Money for the tickets, a fake ePass for you and the tickets themselves. I have an EU passport, so no worries there. Oh, and a hotel would be great." I have to come with her; she needs the help with translation and generally getting around in this world. I doubt I will be there for any more than a few days, so no need in notifying my parents - I'll be back before they return from Cuba. "I'll get to work on it, but it might take a couple of hours. You will need a return ticket, rightly?" She asks, already typing away on her omni-tool. I nod. "I should go pack some stuff. By the way, we should probably disguise you somehow: arousing suspicion is the last thing we need. My mother's clothing should fit you over that suit." With this, I exit the living room and head to my room. I take my orange duffle bag and toss pajamas, a few clean underwear and socks, phone charger and other essentials. After some thought, I take my crowbar too. You never know when you're breaking into a high security facility.

After I finish packing, I head over to my parent's room, sticking my head into the living room on the way. Tali is just where she was, happily typing away on her tool. She doesn't notice me, so I just watch her for a short while. Her fingers fly across the holographic keyboard faster than I could imagine a species with only three fingers can type. Impressive.

But now I'm getting sidetracked. I resume my way to the bedroom, where I open the wardrobe and stare at its contents. Tali will need very wide pants, so as to hide her unusually shaped calves, gloves and shoes, and also a hoodie instead of hers - to cover the tubes and cables on the back of her helmet. I take out the most matching and large clothes and lay them out on the bed, looking at them with a critical eye. Not perfect, but it will have to do.

I return to the living room to check up on Tali's progress. "How's it going?" She looks up from the Omni-Tool, momentarily stopping typing, but then quickly resumes as she answers: "It might take another hour or so, but I have it pretty much figured out: We take a flight from...what was it again? Shear'im..something or other airport at 9:00 am local time." I chuckle, "Ah, Sheremetyevo airport." I steal a glance at the clock; 4:00 pm. "I've laid out some human clothes for you to wear in the other room. Once you are done, I can show you." She replies, without looking up: "Good. You should order a cab to the airport, I will join you shortly." I nod: "I'll leave you to it, then." And return to my room. I dial up the taxi service to pick us up at 7:00 tomorrow morning, take the cat to my neighbors to look after her for a few days. Now I have nothing left to do, except for waiting, and so I relax on my bed with a book, "A Brief History of Time". Ah, such an interesting book! I get carried away in the description of nebulas, black holes and pulsars.

After what seems like only a few minutes, I hear a knock on the door, which brings me out of the trance I had entered. "Come in" - I say, sitting upright on the bed and closing the book. Tali enters the room, bearing two printouts on A4 paper. She waves them slightly: "These are our tickets. I've completed the job and covered my tracks. If anyone ever finds out, they won't be able to track it back here. Were you successful in getting us a ride to the shery'm...shirim... to the airport?" I nod and get up from the bed, motioning to the bedroom: "Let's try out those clothes now, shall we?" She nods back, and we go to my parents' bedroom, where the clothes I had chosen still laid on the bed. "These are..odd."

In the end, they had fit her rather well, and apart from the faceplate, she was undistinguishable from a, albeit with a bad sense of fashion, normal human, and she only needed help with the shoes. She takes them back off and lays them carefully back on the bed. By now, I am hungry again, and go to the kitchen to heat up some leftovers from yesterday, and Tali and I socialize for a while afterwards, with nothing left to do but wait for the day to end. "I've always wanted to visit CERN, just not like..this. going there is every physics- and computer nerd's dream." - I begin. She gives me a confused look, and asks: "What's a 'nerd'? My translator doesn't seem to pick it up." I ponder this question, and respond: "A nerd us someone who knows a lot about a certain subject, but often obsesses over it and rarely takes interest in anything else. Socials skills not included, and it can often be used as a derogatory term." She listens, and then comments: "Among my people, the desire for knowledge is held in very high esteem."

We spend a while discussing cultural differences between her and my races, and when we are done, I look up at the clock: 10 o'clock. "If we want to get up early tomorrow to leave, we should get to bed soon. I imagine you must be very tired." - I change the topic. "You're right. Quarians require around 6 hours of sleep on average, but I haven't slept since I was on the ship. Good night!" She retires to the room she rests in, and I go to my own room. I set my phone on the charger, set my alarm for 6:00 am. Tomorrow is a big day, and I should get some rest. With this thought in mind, I climb into bed and my conscience slips away as I fall asleep.


	4. The Journey to Geneva

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for this chapter being out so late, I've been very busy and have had very little time to write. So yeah, shit happens, and here's the new chapter.

RING RING RING-

Oh great, time to get up.

RING RING RI-click.

I open my eyes as much is possible when they are glued together with gunk, and glance at the clock. 6:01 am. Time to get up, I guess. I roll over and nearly fall out of bed. I flail my stiff arms and legs, making more popping sounds than a bubble wrap in the hands of a 5 year old, and grab the bedding, but all that does is drag it down with me.

Thud. Ow.

Well, at least I'm wide awake now. I untangle my legs from the sheets and get up, not bothering to make my bed. I get dressed, grab my duffel bag, insert the recharged earpiece and head towards the door. In the hallway, I drop the orange bag at the door and go to the kitchen, intending to make a pot of coffee and a couple sandwiches. Tali is nowhere to be found, so I start a pot and rummage the fridge for sandwich toppings, finding some cheese spread and some sliced bacon of questionable freshness. That'll do. I set out the ingredients and slice some bread, then drop it into the toaster.

Tali is still absent, so I head over to my sister's room and knock on the door. When no response is heard for a few seconds, I open it and stick my head in and look around the room. I see Tali laying on her side on the bed, her face turned to the opposite wall. A faint snoring sound can be heard. She mutters something in her sleep, but I can't make out what it is. I switch on the translator app and call out: "Tali, It's time to get up." She stirs, turning over to face me, and I see her eyes open behind the visor. I prompt her to get up again, and return to the kitchen to enjoy my breakfast. About halfway through my first sandwich, I'm joined by Tali, who walks in and stretched her arms. "Good morning. How soon are we leaving?" I swallow the piece of food in my my mouth and reply: "In about fourty minutes." You should eat some and put the clothes on before the taxi arrives."

She takes another food tube from her pouch, and sits at the table. My curiosity gets the best of me: "What do those taste like, anyway?" She pauses her efforts to attach it to her emergency induction port, and says: "Well, there's no point of reference between quarian and human food, but I guess you could describe it as somewhat bland, with a sweet undertone. It's designed for nutritional value, not taste after all." And with that, she attaches it and goes silent for a while. I finish my breakfast and do a last check-up on my bag to make sure that I took everything I needed. I walk to my room; just a couple days ago, the thought that Tali'Zorah vas Neema would pop in out of thin air and we would try to break into CERN would just make me laugh, but here we are! What a thought, though...

Soon, My phone rings - the taxi has arrived. I throw my jacket and shoes on, and soon Tali exits the bedroom, dressed in my mother's clothes and taking unsure steps in the unusual footwear. "Is it time already?" I pick up my bag and switch off the lights. "Yeah. It's time. We'll be in a motorcar, probably pretty slow by your standards." She nods, and we exit the flat and I lock the door. The cab is already waiting at the door, and we climb in. The driver is an old Caucasian man with a week old stubble full of silver hairs, and he's wearing a cap. "Where to?" He asks us with a thick accent. "Sheremetyevo airport." He starts off, and I watch as Tali looks out of the window, taking in the view of Moscow. After about twenty minutes of silence, the driver points to Tali and asks: "So, what's with the mask, miss?" Tali is about to answer, but I cut in, since the driver wouldn't be able to understand her: "I'm sorry, but my...sister doesn't speek Russian, It's her first time here. She has a very rare disease, don't worry - you can't contract it. It makes her lungs extremely allergic to any irritants, so she has to wear the mask always." The driver gives her a sideways glance and returns his full attention to controlling the vehicle. After a while, though, he ask the question that must have been nagging him: "Well, what's it called?" I look at Tali and turn back to him: "Rannoch's disease."

The rest of the ride went without incident, and we arrive at the airport. I pay the taxi driver, and we enter. I ask Tali, not sure where to go now: "So, what's the plan now?" She takes out the tickets, and hands them to me. "We can go through the 'For Diplomats' gate." I drop off my baggage at the check-in and find the passport control. By now, I am very nervous about this, but am doing my best to not show it. We come up to the stand, and behind it sits a man. I hand him my passport and tickets, and he takes them, eying Tali with suspicion. He reads them and frowns. By this point, my heart rate is through the roof and my breath is fast and shallow. Jeez, the suspension is killing me! Then, he let's out a low sigh and places stamps on the documents and hands them back to me. "Have a nice trip." - he grumbes.

I hear Tali exhale. I grab the documents off the stand with sweaty hands and proceed to the security checkpoint. I am about to go through the scanner, but Tali signals to the 'For Diplomats' way. We go through, and finally arive at the gate to the plane. The whole time we wait, neither of us says a word. Finally, the gate opens, and we get into the plane.

Between us, there sits a fat woman, who almost immediately falls asleep.

The plane begins to accelerate and takes off. A stewardess, checking seatbelts, walks along the isle. She asks me to turn off my phone, which I was holding in my hands. Tali looks at me, and I can see her panic a little. "Don't worry, just put your seatbelt on and turn off your omni-tool, and all will be fine. These things are safe(-ish, I think to myself)" and so, I turn off my phone and earpiece and take it out. Now that we are on the plane to Switzerland, I feel much better and safer. Looks like Tali's hard work payed off, and her hack was successful. Phew! I fall asleep, contempt with the fact that we are on our way.

I wake up from the fat lady stirring in her sleep and leaning on me. Ew! I reel in disgust. Call me an intolerant bastard, but I find fat people gross and a disgusting. It may root in the fact that I used to be a chunker a few years ago, and I really resented myself because of it. Since then, though, I've been working on loosing weight, and quite effectively at that. Call me a hypocrite, but I managed to overcome it, and so should they. But I digress. The captain comes on over the intercom: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are beginning our descent, and will be arriving in Geneva Airport in twenty minutes." I look over to Tali, and see that she is looking out of the window at the ground, appearing among the clouds only to dissappear a few moments later. I wait for the plane to land, exit, and Tali and I find ourselves in front of the passport control on this end of the trip. It all goes smoothly, once again proving Tali's skill at hacking stuff to be amazing. I walk over to the baggage claim and wait for my duffle bag. In the meantime, might as well figure out what we do next.

I walk over to the side kf the room, making sure no one is in the nearby vicinity. Tali follows me, and I reactivate my smartphone and earpiece, and insert it into my left ear. I start up the translation app, which I dubbed 'TaliTalk' im my mind. I face the quarian and ask: "So, now what? We get a taxi and go... where?" She replies in a hushed voice, making sure no one but I can hear her: "We are staying at the 'Grand-Feinman' hotel, only a few kilometers from the research facility. I've printed out the booking here" - she hands me an A4 sheet of paper, which was conveniently stored in her satchel. Just how much can she fit into that one little thing!? Oh, well. Must be the equivalent of my mother's handbag, which can fit a seemingly indefinite amount of things and still look half-empty. I take the paper and read. Yup, that what we need. Ah, and there's my bag! I take it and heave it over my shoulder. At last, we make our way to the taxi service and I explain where we need to go. The lady at the counter smiles warmly, and shows us the way to the taxi parking area after radioing ahead to a driver. I thank her, and we go to the parking area. Soon, a man in a yellow jacket greets us and showz us the way to the car. We get in, and he takes off.

This time, the driver was silent, so the trip was overall somewhat boring. I did get a good view of the local scenery,once we left the airport complex. We soon drive up to the hotel, which is a five - story red and grey building in a small resort area. I pay the cabbie with some of the money I had converted into euros in Moscow. Tali and I step out of the car, and after a moment's pause walk into the reception. A young woman is sitting behind the marble desktop, and is busily typing on a computer. I walk up to the desk and interrupt her work, placing the reservation down in front of her. She looks at the paper, and asks: "Ok. I see you have already payed for a week, so your room is number 345, second floor. The elevator is to the right," She gestures with her hand, "Enjoy your stay!" And with that, she goes back to work. I find the elevator, and we get to the room.

It's a spacious room, with a balcony and a bathroom with a large tub. There's a wardrobe, a lerge plasma TV, a couch, and... a double bed. Well, this is awkward. I guess one of us sleeps on the couch. I decide to take the initiative; "I got dibs on the couch!" I drop the bag and leap onto it headfirst.

Ow!

I hit my ribcage on the wooden board dividing two parts of the couch. Christ, that hirts! The divider was hidden between two pillows, so I didn't see it from the door. I roll off the sofa, clutching my lower ribs. Well doesn't feel like I broke anything. I open my eyes and look to Tali. She is standing right where she was, her arms crossed and facepalming - or,rather, visorpalming. I can hear her laughing lightly, though. I chuckle as I get up: "Note to self: Always check for a soft landing first." Damn, that's gonna bruise. "Are you alright?" She inquiries, removing her hand from the helmet and walking over to the balcony door. "I think my dignity is hurt more than I am, but I'll live." I rub my ribcage. At least it didn't hit me in the solar plexus. Because that would royally suck. Tali shuts the curtains and begins to shed the clothes that she pulled over her environmental suit half a day ago. I never would have thought that the sight of a woman undressing in front of me could be so underwhelming, but of course they usually don't wear full - body enviro-suits underneath...No! Bad thoughts! Bad! Stay! Christ almighty, Alex, don't even go there!

Aaanywaay.. I sit on the cursed sofa, and state: "Now that we've arrived, we should start planning the heist." I pull my phone out of my pocket; surprisingly, it's only discharged by thirty percent. TaliTalk must really be energy efficient. Although it might just be receiving a signal from Tali's omni-tool. I scan for a Wi-Fi signal, and am glad to find a free hotel-wide network. Times-a waistin', so we should get moving. I bring up the CERN Web page, and look at the eexcursion times. Oh, it's free! Yay! So.. nearest timw is tomorrow at 12:00, so that's when we go. I inform Tali of this, and shd seems to be fine with that.

So, now we have some time to kill.


	5. The Big Reveal

A/N: I'm sorry for the horrible delay, but I'm in summer camp, so I'm pretty caught up and stuff.

I will try not to make such long pauses, but I can't guarantee anything. So, here's the chapter I've been working on for so long, and it's also my longest chapter yet.

Enjoy!

P.S. I've never been to CERN myself, so apart from some photos off the Internet, I don't actually know what it looks like. But yeah, artistic integrity and stuff.

Chapter 5

"I take it, you've found out about the admission times? The sooner we know, the better." Says Tali'Zorah, once I close my phone and place it in my pocket. The time is 4:00 pm local time, and we have just arrived at the 'Grand-Feynman' hotel. "Yes; nearest one is tomorrow at twelve. So, we go in with the group, separate, find our way to the LHC, flip the switch, you jump in, I make out of here... right?" I ask half-heartedly. Tali shoots me a glare and asks somewhat mockingly: "You've never actually broken into anywhere, have you? We can't just barge in there and expect to find everything perfect and easy!" I admit, a little hurt: "Well, it's not exactly standard practice in your everyday Russian school..." Not like that's something to be ashamed of. I look her in the eyes, a little more confidently: "And what is your master plan, Ocean's thirteenth?" She scoffs at the missed reference, replying: "I suggest we go there first, scout ahead, find out what is where and then the next time we go, things go down, so stop playing criminal mastermind, Alex." I try to save the situation from spiraling into an argument: "You know I was only joking, right? I mean, really? We should follow that plan, and now that we have some time on our hands, we might as well do something interesting!" Her gaze softens, and becomes more curious than condescending: "Oh? And what would that be?" She tilts her head to one side. Now that we're actually talking about something other than her return to the Mass Effect universe, I'm not quite sure what to speak about... Well, how about... "So among your people, the name of the ship ship that one serves in becomes part of one's name, right? Doesn't that slow down the paperwork involved with keeping up to speed with who serves where and all that jazz?" I inquire. She thinks about it, and answers in a lecturing tone: "Well, not really. A quarian rarely changes the ship they are stationed on, apart from returning from their pilgrimage. It only happens when a ship is destroyed, the person is sent on a special assignment or the quarian places a request, which happens only once in a blue pulsar." I nod my head. I already know a lot about the Quarian people, but hearing it from Tali herself, without a set amount of ones and zeroes to regulate her behavior, was a whole different story. "So, which ship did you serve on prior to your... pilgrimage?" Her tone lightens, as she remembers her childhood: "I was born and raised on the Raaya. It's one of the largest ships in the Flotilla... Then, when I was on my pilgrimage, my captain, Commander Shepard, helped me retrieve some very important data about the... Mineral deposits... of... The Horsehead Nebula. Right. And that was my gift to the captain of the Neema. He accepted it, and so I became 'vas Neema'."

The mineral deposits of the Horsehead Nebula!? Ok Tali, stop bullshitting me. It's time to discuss the "Mass Effect" trilogy.

"You know, Tali, there once was this video game... it was a sci-fi action RPG..." Tali looks at me with distaste: "On the Flotilla, video games are considered a waste of time and energy. Vids, however, are a whole different story." I continue: "So in this game, there's one young commander in the human military, and he was stationed on a prototype space vessel. He went on a mission to save the galaxy from a rouge secret agent and his army of robots, who turned out to be just the top of the iceberg. Along the way, Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy"-I hear Tali gasp-" met a lot of various aliens: Turian, Asari, Volus," -Tali's stance betrays shock, her eyes wide- "And a girl on her rite of passage, whose race was exiled from their homeworld by their synthetic servants. The Geth." Tali stands where she was, not saying a word. Speechless, I guess. I continue: "The game was called 'Mass Effect'. You didn't only travel back in time, Tali. You traveled _across dimensions." _ The quarian machinist sits on the bed. She's taking this pretty well, I think. "So... How does it end? The game, I mean." Should I tell her about the last installment? Nah, that would make things a lot more complicated.

"Well, the end hasn't been released yet. The last one ends well, though... well, more or less. It depends on how you play it. Tell me, Tali, did the Council survive the attack on the Citadel, led by Saren and his Geth?" Her eyes widen once more, but she replies, her voice a little shaky: "I don't know how you know about all that, but... yes. Shepard signaled the Alliance Fleet to help the council escape, and then led the final assault on Saren. I take it, you played this game?" "Yes, I did; favorite game ever. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about this a while ago, but I hadn't the slightest clue how to do it. It's rather tricky, trying to tell someone that they are a video game character. I also know that you lied to me. Three times. Always about the Geth, too. Why?" She begins to fumble with her hands nervously: "Well, because of the Geth and the threat they present, there is much racism towards our people... I thought maybe... You would also think less of me... of my race." I look at her, but she averts her eyes. "Tali, I wouldn't be so nearsighted. But I can see why you might think so, what with all the racist crap going around in citadel space." Tali nods. She seems to be taking this in stride. "Well, I guess that means a lot less explaining on your part. You realize, however, that I can't tell you about how things will unravel, just that in the end, all will be well." She seems to understand. Wow, she's taking this all really well. I guess that once you get used to the idea that you traveled into the past, cross - dimensional travel doesn't seem that farfetched. "So since you know how this ends, I guess you know how it begins?" I nod: "Yes." And I go on to tell her in semi-high detail about how Shepard and his squad flew around the galaxy trying to save it. Tali corrects from time to time, mostly stuff such as sequence of missions, side quests and paragon/renegade decisions. It seems her Broshep was mostly paragon, slipping into paragade mode from time to time. The Rachni were spared, the council survived, and reporters were punched. He also gave Tali the Geth data, so that's good.

We discuss the events of ME1 for a while, and I'm interrupted mid-sentence by a loud rumble. Woops, looks like my stomach is protesting against the lack of lunch. I look up at the clock, my cheeks turning slightly pink under the freckles. 8:00 pm. Supper should be being served around now. "Tali, I'm gonna go downstairs and eat something. Care to join me, or do you want to stay here?" She takes out a food tube, sets it on the bedside table and gets up. "I'll come with you, I'm not that hungry anyway. I think we got an all-inclusive reservation." She says, her eyes bright. Jeez, Tali, you certainly didn't go cheap! "Where did you get the money for all this?" I ask confusedly. She tilts her head to one side: "I'm sure a few thousand people won't miss a cent or two from their banking accounts." I shake my head with a lopsided grin: "And here we were trying to disprove stereotypes about quarians..." She laughs: "Well, maybe, but their lives don't depend on those few cents. Mine does." I nod again. "True that. Well, let's go, shall we?" We head downstairs, and soon find the restaurant room. They have a large buffet of various foods: hot, cold, deserts, assortments of cheeses and sausages, ice cream and pudding. I look at Tali with wide eyes. She says nothing, so we split up; she finds us a table and I get some food. Honey-glazed chicken wings, here I come!

Well, that was filling. After a three course meal, during which Tali and I discussed off topic things because there were people around, we head back to the room, where I plop down on the couch, and I make sure that I miss the wooden divider this time. "Well, you sure took advantage of 'all inclusive', Alex." Tali chirps coyly. I pat my stomach and say: "what can I say? I love good food, and good food loves me." She looks at me with disapproval: "on the fleet, gluttony is frowned upon... but I can see that doesn't apply to humans." Oh Tali. You certainly should read more Dante. "It does, but the occasional treat is fine. Anyway, aren't you hungry yourself? The last time you ate was this morning." She looks over to the tube of nutrient paste, and comments: "The paste may not taste great, but it supplies enough nutrition and liquid for a standard galactic day. Of course, they last about 20 hours, as compared to your 24 hour cycle. But I'll be fine until tomorrow morning. When should we head out to CERN? I mean, how long should it take?" She asks. I look at my phone; if we want to get to the research center on time for the twelve o'clock excursion, we should leave by taxi about half an hour earlier. "Eleven thirty. We should be fine if we leave then. Until then, I don't really know what to do. I'll call up a cab." I take my phone from my pocket and dial the local taxi service. Meanwhile, Tali brings up her research data on dark energy and starts skimming through it.

Once that's out of the way, Tali and I discuss our plan in further detail. She'll keep her onboard recorder running the whole time we're there, and I'll try to answer any questions directed to her. We talk a little more about the plot of Mass Effect, which really gives me -a good perspective of how the course of action was through her eyes. She really came to admire the commander, whose first name was, oddly enough, James, not F#ckface, which was what I named him after seeing how ugly he came out when I first created a custom appearance. She believed he was a shining example of humanity's best and brightest, the only one capable of saving the galaxy from Saren and his Geth, which he did. He also managed to talk both Saren, and the dude from the Feros colony, into shooting themselves. Talk about being so hard to antagonize that bad guys commit suicide.

Soon, we both go to bed, each on our own item of furniture; Tali on the bed and me on the sofa. I lay there for a while, unable to fall asleep: I'm going to see CERN tomorrow! Much cool, such wow. Too bad I'll be too busy finding out important things about the place to pay any attention to the actual research and stuff they do there. I fall asleep, the exiting thought still in my mind.

Ow.

...

Ow.

...

Ow.

...

I open my eyes and see the back of the couch I was sleeping on. My head is turned at an unnatural angle, propped up against the armrest. I turn over, straightening out my neck.

Pop-pop-crack-pop.

Ow.

Note to self: before falling asleep on a couch, take a pillow. And make sure you use it, lest you want to wake up sounding louder than a jumping elephant whenever you slightly turn your head. Oh, well. I get up and stretching my legs and arms. I look over to the bed; Tali is asleep on it, spread out on it like a cat on a hot summer day. Darn, I miss my cat already. What time is it? I glance over to the clock on the wall: nine o'clock, plenty of time. Should I wake her up? ...Nah. I throw on my jacket and head downstairs for breakfast. I pick up some cereal and a few sandwiches, along with a large cup of coffee.

Twenty minutes later, I launch 'TaliTalk' on my phone, Insert the earpiece, to which my ear has already accustomed, and return to the room, where I find Tali making - or, at least, trying to make - the bed. She turns over the sheet, unsure which way it goes. I chuckle. "Need some help?" - I ask. She looks at me briefly, and returns to fumbling with the bedding. "I might not be able to feel anything outside the suit, but this was the softest bed I've ever slept on. I wanted to return the favor to the staff..." She puts the sheet down in defeat- "...but it seems that's not really happening." I walk over and pick up where she left off, finishing the work with far more experience. "So Tali, it just occurred to me, but what am I to do once you return? I mean, we should probably buy me a ticket back. I wouldn't want to be stuck here, however nice the skiing is in the Alps." She replies, bringing up her Omni-tool: "I already took care of that. Here, take a look." She gestures with her free hand to the orange holodisplay. I look, and see an E-ticket ready for printing..."Ok... 5 pm, three days from now... already paid. Great!" - I conclude. Wow, will I really be parting ways with Tali in only a few days? It's kind of hard to believe that… of course, the fact that she's even here is hardly an easily believable thing in itself. Still, I'll miss her when she leaves… these will have been some of the most fascinating days of my summer –Nay, of my life! But I digress.

Tali shuts down her Omni-tool, puts on her human clothes over the enviro-suit and consumes one of the nutrient-paste tubes, while I pack the few things I might need there into the orange duffel bag. Soon after, the Taxi service calls, and informs us that the Taxi will be arriving shortly – within the next ten minutes, in fact. Better get moving then! I take the bag, and together we descend the stairs to the lobby and exit the hotel. The taxi isn't there yet, so we just sit on a bench near the entrance, which gives us a chance to get a good view of the surrounding area, which is truly gorgeous: the resort complex is situated in a valley between two mountain ranges, both gigantically huge and long. To the other end of the valley, a glacier can be seen on the top of a particularly large mountain, still large and white in the summer. A small but noisy creek flows from the base of the nearest mountain, gurgling happily as it flows by the hotel. The surroundings create a serene and tranquil atmosphere. The calmness is interrupted by the sound of a car engine, followed soon buy its source, our cab. The driver honks once, drives up to the entrance and gets out. Tali and I rise from the bench, and walk up to the cabbie. I explain where we need to get and when, and soon enough we're on our way. The driver explains, his English tinted with a Swiss accent: "We get people from all over the place at that hotel, wanting to visit CERN. Usually, though, they are either ageing scientists or young students, not..." he waves his hand in our general direction. I ignore this jab, writing it off as just a surprising change from routine. Most of the remaining trip, the taxi driver explains the surrounding to us, occasionally pointing his finger towards something in particular: names of mountains, rivers, towns and other things.

Soon after, we turn building in a small town, and see Lake Geneva, along with a large flat plateau, spread across a wide area. Off in the distance I can see the outline of a large complex of buildings. "That's it, over there. Which building do you need?" I try to recall, but come up blank. Damn, which one was it? Oh, here's an idea! "The reception, please." He nods, and continues driving on. The complex grows larger and larger as we approach. I think I can even see a large globular building… The Globe of Science and Innovation, wasn't it? We arrive shortly after, and drive up to a large four-story bright-gray building with a large glass door and big windows. "Here we are." Concludes the cabbie, as we climb out. I pay the man, and he drives off back in the direction of Geneva. Tali and I stand by the entrance for a few moments, taking in the view. Le look at each other briefly, and then step in.


	6. The Tour

Chapter 6

"Hello! Are you here for the tour?" – Asks a cheerful woman without even a hint of local accent. She has ginger hair, and reminds me of Kelly Chambers a little too much for comfort. I nod, and Tali and I step up to the small group of visitors. "Yes," – I say, faking a Russian accent, which I'm rather good at. -"We're here for the tour. We won a physics contest back in Ukraine, and the prize was a trip here. I hope you understand, that my friend 'ere has a condition, and can't walk around without her breather helmet. It also affects her vocal chords, so she can't speak at the moment." – I lie. If I was to say that I'm from Russia, it might make it easier to trace me once the deed is done. The lady, who I presume is our guide, gives me and Tali a strange look, but says nothing. She turns back to the group: "Is everyone here? Alright. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research. However, nuclear isn't the only thing we research here. Does everyone here have a smartphone? I nod, and so do all the other people in the group. "Well, the touchscreen was invented here at CERN, as were many other things. Follow me please, were, beginning our tour with the CERN computational facility, where all the data collected is processed and stored for later study." We follow her to a large, one-story building, where she stops us in front of a pair of glass doors. The building looks less decorated and shiny in the sunlight, but still looks overall very tidy and well kept. "This facility is staffed by a staff of one-hundred and twenty full- and part-time employees by day, and thirty by night. They work day and night to keep the processing power of the rest of the facilities up and running, and have a running goal of constantly upgrading the tech. Let's go in, shall we?" – She gestures to the door, and the group of tourists enters.

The facility is rather interesting, but I spend most of my time noting security options and possible loopholes instead of listening. I do hears bits and snips of information though; that the LHC produces a helluva lot of information yearly, something about a two-kilometer high tower of DVD's or something. Tali is also looking around with interest, probably covertly scanning the area and displaying the info on her visor. The guide walks us through room after room of computer equipment, server rooms, and office blocks. Huh, looks like they have a new air circulation technique to keep the server rooms cool, used only here… Stay on target, Alex! You can marvel at cool stuff over the net later. Now, we need to take in as much info about this place as we can, maybe even find some security loopholes… I doubt we'll need this building at all, and so be less vigilant at the moment, but once we get to the LHC control and ATLAS/ALICE detectors, we can't afford to miss anything.

The guide invites us to another building, which turned out to be the R&D department. Wow, do they have a separate building for everything here? I bet the janitor's locker is a small house in its own. The Research and Development dept. was also mostly office blocks and meeting rooms, along with some labs we weren't allowed access to, sadly. Next, we visited the cafeteria, where the prices weren't as bad as I had expected… I guess the employees eat there too. I enjoyed a small pastry and a cup of coffee, and Tali just gestured that she's not hungry. "So, our next stop is something I bet all of you have been anticipating… The Large Hadron Collider control center!" a few cheers can be heard from the group, including me. We take a small walk along the side of a driveway, and soon enough we stand before a large three-story building, with a large 'CERN' Logo made of metal hanging above the door in a Look-How-Posh-And-Grand-We-Are way. "Here we are. This part of the complex is where we control and monitor the Large Hadron Collider and the smaller acceleration ring. We do have a smaller control center for each detector, but the collider itself is worked from here. Let's go in." Yay! We finally get to see the place where the magic happens! The thought makes me a little giddy, but I keep my cool. Tali also looks a little exited. We enter, and find ourselves in a large room with a high ceiling and many, many tables and even more computers. On the wall is a large countdown clock, inactive at the moment. A few white-collar people are sitting at the tables or huddled together at a water cooler. They glance at us briefly, and return to whatever it was they were doing. I spin my heads wildly, trying to take in as much information as I can; ok, camera there, security guy sitting over at that entrance… I see Tali doing the same. At least she has scanners and recorders and stuff! I, on the other hand, have to rely on my memory to keep all the knowledge stored. There are three security cameras in this room, each covering about a third of the room and the two entrances. Looks like there's no way to get past those without being seen, unless you can climb walls… I just hope Tali will disable them when the time comes. Oh, who am I kidding; she got us this far, she'll get us to the end. But I should stop thinking about that, and get back to observing the surroundings, Sherlock – style. I note a few security camera feeds showing in the far corner of the room. Bingo! I can use that to watch over Tali as she makes her way to the collider. I still haven't quite figured out what exactly she is going to do once she gets there, but I guess we can discuss that once we get back. There's also a door with a keycard-lock and "Tunnel access –authorized personnel only!" written over it. We walk out of the control center, as the guide continues to tell us all about the Collider and its functions.

It's a five minute bus ride, and we are at a small, one-story grey building, with a sign on the wall saying "ALICE control and access". The guide walks us in; and inside we see a security checkpoint with a guard sitting on a chair and eating a doughnut behind a counter. There is also a large pair of doors beyond the checkpoint. The guide speaks with the guard and shows him an ID card. He nods, and allows us in. We proceed beyond the door and find ourselves at a large elevator, capable of carrying the whole group at once. We board it, and I feel lighter for a moment as we start descending. "The ALICE detector is the second largest detector at the LHC. It has a more specific purpose than the ATLAS detector, but has also produced very useful results." – explains the guide. The elevator stops, and I feel a tug at my stomach as inertia takes a swing at it. How fast was this elevator going!? Meh, doesn't matter. What does matter is that we are down here; it's actually rather amazing. We walk past the control center, only getting a few sentences from the guide about it. She soon brings us to a large chamber, where the detector is situated. It's huge! The room spans several floors in height, with the detector in the middle. It looks like a large tube, with a bunch of coils and cords going all over the place from it. The guide hands us all white hard-hats. We put them on, but Tali has to put it on over her helmet. "Here, let me." – I say. If she had tried herself, she might have revealed her shortage of fingers, so I clasp it over her hood and secure the helmet beneath her throat. A few of the other tourists watch, but I pay them no mind, and we continue our way through the enormous chamber.

We arrive at the far wall, after walking under the mass of equipment. The wall is mostly empty, apart from a single door, thee sign near which spells "Tram station B". The guide directs us to enter, and beyond is a small tramway, the tracks going around in a slight curve. I guess this can take us from here to the ATLAS detector system… there's a tram coming in right now, so we promptly board it. The tram is only a single wagon, with a small LED screen displaying information. "En route to station C, ATLAS detector." – says an automated feminine voice. The wagon takes off, and we traverse the tunnel, seeing only dark walls outside the large windows. We soon arrive at a larger station than we left, slowing down and eventually stopping. "Now arriving at sector C research facility. Please don't leave any personal belongings on board."

The small group of tourists steps out of the tram, Tali and I with them. We step onto the dimly – lit station, and the guide begins her tour of the ATLAS detector facility. "ATLAS is our largest detector yet. It was also the one where we discovered the Higgs boson. It was recently retrofitted with new upgrades, and will re-launch next summer. We'll be entering there now." She guides us through a door, and, lo and behold, before us lies a gigantic chamber, the ceiling going up about four stories, and in the middle, surrounded by scaffolds and catwalks, stands – or, rather, lies the colossal contraption: a hexagonal enormous construction of copper, magnets, coolant tubes and a large cylinder going through the middle of it all. The amount of money and effort it must have taken to build this! A few people can be seen walking around the higher levels, wearing hardhats and lab coats, actively discussing something illegible. They look like ants at this distance, paling in size next to the massive tangle of machinery. The guide tells us about the capabilities and power demands of the machine, which are, rather fittingly, just as colossal, but I miss most of it, because my memorizing capabilities are in over-drive; I remember each and every significant detail: where each door leads, each cameras field of vision, how the catwalks interconnect. My concentration is broken by a ping from my phone. I look down at it; New Message. Down here? I doubt my phone has coverage one hundred meters underground, but then again… I look at Tali, realizing the sender. She glares at me with urgency, her eyes darting from mine to the phone in my hand and back. I give her a little nod and open the message. It reads: "This is the place we need; pay extra attention. I'll analyze the data I collect later today." I look back up at Tali, and nod.

We walk on, following the ginger guide. She leads us up a flight of stairs and across a catwalk, and yet into another room, where an elevator awaited us. "Is the tour already coming to an end?" I ask the guide. "In about fifteen minutes, yes." I check my watch; has the tour really lasted three and a half hours? I guess so. We board the elevator, cramming together to make it in one go, and I try to squeeze in before the doors close. I find myself pressed, rather inconveniently, up against Tali. From behind. Like, crotch-to-rear. I try to struggle out of this position, but am surrounded from all sides by other people, pressed together like sardines in a tin and impeding my movement. Twenty _mega awkward _seconds pass before we arrive at the ground level and pile out, gasping for air. I immediately move back from her, and walk on in a fast pace. We arrived at a souvenir shop. Ah, just how all tours world–wide end. I decide to indulge myself and buy a 'CERN' pin for my pin collection and a medium-sized booklet about all the discoveries made at CERN. Gotta have some memorabilia from my trip here, right? Right. I pay, and we exit the building. I can barely see the house we entered from here; it's quite far. A ten minute walk later, we arrive at the reception, right where we began the tour almost four hours ago. The lets us go our own ways, and Tali and I find the Taxi we had ordered a while ago. The whole ride back is mostly silent, as we both contemplate what we had seen and heard.

We arrive at the hotel, where I can finally reactivate TaliTalk. I insert the earpiece, and say, turning to Tali: "Well that was very interesting... wish I could have paid more attention, though." She turns to me, removing the hood of the hoodie I gave her and revealing the tubes and cables running to the back of her head from the enviro-suit, the part you never see in-game: "It was quite interesting. Your people are advancing very rapidly, considering you've only discovered quantum mechanics a century ago. It took the asari and turians a lot longer to come from that to things like the LHC. My people took about as long as your, though. Of course, we have been in exile from the Geth for over a century by now... but that's beside the point; we found what we need, and now I can analyze the needed data, and get a better idea of what we need to do once we get there. Let's get on it, then?" I sigh. Oh well, no rest. All work and no play make Alex a dull boy. But it also makes Tali a living woman, not a dead-from-starvation one. So, work it is, then. Tali, who has completely removed my mother's clothes and donned her usual purple hood by now, pulls up her Omni-tool. I see a lot of images and diagrams flashing on the holographic display, followed by a long beep. "I've finished uploading sensory data to my tool, since it was originally stored on my suit's microcomputer. Let's take a look at it."

We spend about an hour looking through the images, commenting on those that need explanation and working on the details of the plan. Which goes like this:

We Hire a Taxi driver, pay him extra to wait for us outside the center. We go at night.

Tali makes it into the ATLAS facility, I go to the control center.

I fire up the thing using instructions from Tali, and she gets down to the detector.

I make sure Tali makes it to the Conduit the portal, and returns to her dimension, hopefully in the escape pod (NOT floating outside it)

I shut the LHC down and rush to the taxi, hand him a wad of cash that Tali will get from an ATM, and tell him to get me to the airport, from where I make it home safely.

After that is done, I head down to the dining area to have supper. Once I return, I see Tali putting on the clothes I gave her a few days ago. "Let's head down to the ATM downstairs. I'll work my magic, and you stand guard. "

And so, we head to the ground floor to pick up some cash.


	7. Commence Operation 'Homecoming'

"Yes, I'd like to order a taxi for 2:30 to the "Grand-Feynman" Hotel. Yes, in cash. Yeah, I know my voice sound weird, so what? Is that basis to deny service!? I didn't think so. Goodbye." Good, so the vocoder that Tali installed onto my phone works. She said she'd make a few… modifications to it if I didn't mind, and when she handed it back to me when I returned from lunch, it looked like it had been tampered with; a few pieces the case had been removed, and I could see small, sleek shiny pieces of new circuitry placed over the original. "You should get some sleep in before we leave, we have a big night ahead. In any case, I'm not done "pimping out" your phone, as you put it earlier, so please let me finish. Once this upgrade is complete, you will be able to assist me a lot when we are at the research facility." I nod, taking out the earpiece from my ear and laying it on the table. I then turn off my phone, placing it into her outstretched palm. She takes it, and walks over to the table where she had tinkered with it earlier. I, on the other hand, plop onto the sofa to get some shut-eye before showtime. Cool, so I'll have a neat phone, hand – crafted by the fictional world's best machinist!

Ringringring.

Ringringring.

I roll over on the couch to see the hotel room phone ringing… who could it be?

Ringringring.

"Ok, Ok, I'm coming" – I mutter, as I climb off the couch and stumble over to the table where the phone is.

"Hello?" I ask, bringing the receiver up to my ear. "Alex *******? This is the reception. We have a taxi here that says he can't reach your phone." I look over to where Tali is: she's sitting at the table she had set up shop at, right where I left her. She hold up my phone; it looks even more extensively modified than I had seen it a few hours ago. There were small bundles of wires sticking out of various places, and something that looked an awful lot like a projector of some sort. It also had a couple elastic band attached to the casing. Interesting…

"Sir? The driver is waiting downstairs." – The reception lady interrupts my thoughts. "Yes, yes, tell him I'll be there soon." – I hang up.

I walk over to Tali, who turns to me and silently hands me the phone. I look it over; the main parts seem to still be intact. I start it, and it takes a while longer than usual to launch. Must be more of a load on the processor. Finally, it starts, and it looks like the user interface hasn't changed much: there are a few more unmarked icons, but all in all it looks alright. I start TaliTalk, and insert he earpiece. "So, Tali, what were you up to while I was out?" She takes my phone, and shows me it's new features. "It can now function as a basic omni-tool: I installed a backup holographic projector onto it, and a few more things, such as a scanner and a hacking unit. I also upped the original hardware to be able to handle the extra load." I point to the elastic bands – "And those are for…?" she takes my forearm and pulls the bands over it, so the screen is facing upwards. She then presses the topmost button, and the screen faded to black. Before I can inquire, though, my arm is enveloped in a shimmering orange hologram, which then lights up a new graphical user interface.

"I also installed another operating system in the extra memory I made. It's a copy of mine, only translated and simplified. This should enable you to help me a great deal more than you could on your own." Her eyes light up with what a can safely assume to be a smile: "I also thought you might want a souvenir from the future once all this is done."

The whole time she spoke, I just kind of stood there, my mouth ajar at the awesome thing on my arm.

_OH._

_FREAKING._

_WOW._

"Wow, Tali, I… I don't even know what to say… thank you, I guess…"- I mumble. This is so cool! I mean, yeah, its weak compared to any usual Omni-tool, but this isn't exactly the twenty second century either. I look through the menu. Let's see here… Ok, options, hacking, scanner, _calibration _(ooh, Garrus would love this), extra-net access (no need for that – it doesn't exist on Earth yet), and communication. While I explore the new tool, Tali kind of just stands beside me with her head tilted to one side. I can only guess, but I think she's smiling. The holographic interface is kind of weird to use, but I think I'll get used to it soon. I press the "exit" button and beam at Tali. I think… yeah, she deserves one. I give her a big hug. She is a little surprised, but soon returns it. "Thank you." – I say, as I let her go.

Ringringring.

Ah, crap, I forgot about the taxi. I pick up the phone and before the receptionist can say anything, I tell her: "I'll be right there, darn it!" and put down the receiver. Ok, that might have been a little too rude, but I don't care. Ok, let's see... I won't be here again, since the driver will take me straight to the airport. In that case, I should take everything…

Ok good. I've checked over everything; it's all in the bag now. I place the crowbar on the very top of stuff for ease of access. I just hope I won't have to use it for anything –or anyone – apart from a door and a window that need opening. I switch off the lights, and Tali and I proceed downstairs.

Next to the reception we see the taxi driver, and greet him. "Sorry for the delay – had to pack." He simply nods – probably gets slow clients all the time. I throw my bag in the trunk and we get into the cab. "Where to?" – he asks, turning back to us. I look over at Tali, and back to him. "CERN." – I respond. He furrows his brow: "At this time of night? What do you need there?" I give him a knowing look (or at least what I think a "knowing look" looks like): "Just drive us there. I'll pay you once we get there, extra if you keep quiet, savvy?" He relaxes and nods, turns back to the steering wheel and starts the car. Well, that worked better than I expected. I check the straps on my… omni-phone, I guess. Yeah, these should hold even if I run and stuff.

Soon, we arrive at the gate, which is closed. "Park over there, off the main road. Stay there until I return, and then take me straight to the airport. I'll be alone." He starts to object, but I interrupt: "Did I mention that I'll pay you tenfold? Half now, half when I exit at the airport." – He immediately shuts up. Ah, the power of money – stronger than magic and morality. I hand him half of the large wad of banknotes from my pocket. He checks them against the light – and raises his eyebrows when he realizes they are all real. The cabbie stuffs them into his front pocket. Tali and I get out of the car, and I grab my bag. The taxi drives over to the place I specified, and switches off the lights. Now, apart from the stars in the clear night sky, Tali's eyes and mask, and the few lights still on around the territory of the labs, we are left in total darkness. I wait a bit until my eyes are adjusted, and then Tali and I proceed with the plan we worked on earlier. Begin operation "Homecoming".

Tali walks up to the fence, and brings her omni-tool up to it. I see a few sparks escape it, and then she removes the cut bars from the hole she made. We climb through. Now we're in. I bring up the location of the control center in my mind. It should be… that way? Yeah. "Showtime – I'll head over to the control station, and you get to ATLAS." – I whisper. Tali nods. "Stay in contact, I'll radio you the instructions once you get there." I nod in return, swing my bag over my shoulder, and get on my way. I run in a half crouch, heading the opposite way from where Tali is going. Ok, Alex, what did stealth game teach you? Avoid the light, be swift…

I arrive at the wall of the control station, and make sure no one is near me before I radio Tali; "Ok, I'm at the spot. I've also got an idea how to get in though… I hope it works…" her voice crackles a little as it comes in through the earpiece: "Got it. Still on my way to the entrance. Will tell you when I get there." I cut the link. Ok, this better work, or I'm screwed… I look around… aha! I pick up one of the larger rocks from the footpath, making sure to hold it through my sleeve – I don't need anyone to find my fingerprints. I press up to the wall near the door, right next to where the door opens to, and take aim at the building across the street, targeting one of the large glass windows. I toss the stone…

CRASH.

Ok, that was loud and should attract some attention – just what I need. And sure enough, I soon hear someone fumbling with keys behind the door, followed by a click, and the night guard rushes out of the door. He looks around, quickly locates the source of the noise, and runs toward the building across. He He He, fool. Once I'm sure he can't hear me, I enter through the door he forgot to lock in his hurry. I lock it from the inside, since he forgot his key in the lock. Wow, he made it even easier for me! Nice. So, if memory serves me well, the control panel for the LHC should be over here… got it! I radio Tali once more: "I'm in position. What's your status?" She opens the link, and replies: "Just got past the night guard, he's no longer a problem... Yours and mine omni-tools are fitted with jammers, so the cameras shouldn't detect you." Ah crap, I completely forgot about those! She continues: "now you have to activate the collider. There should be a main control panel on that station." Uh huh, found it. "Here it is." I hit the power button, and the large table-top touchscreen lights up. Ok, a custom operating system… and it requires a password. "Ugh, Tali? This thing wants an access code. I guess I'll have to hack it, right?" "Right", comes the reply over the comm channel, - "Open up the omni-tool, you should have one in your menu. Tell me if you need help with it, but it really is simpler than it seems." Right, well, maybe for you techno-geniuses… Ok, here we are, Hacking. I fire up the utility, and find the computer in front of me on the scanner, and after a few moments of analyzing it, I'm greeted with a three-by-four panel of blocks of barely legible pieces of code… is that Python I see there? Interesting… ok, there's a start button here. Boop. The text starts scrolling up and a small block of code appears separately at the top. Great, so this is just like in the game! Just find the corresponding code blocks, and voila!

After a short hacking session, I'm in. Surprisingly, it only took a few wrong tiles before I got it down. "Piece of cake." A response comes through with minor delay: "That system was nothing because it's obsolete compared to the hacking software, so don't let it get to your head." "Well, they don't get any more complex than this in 2014, but that's irrelevant. I'm in, and I'll try to fire up the thing." Let's see here… There's a bunch of buttons here that I have no clue about, but there's also a section called "NEW", so I'll check it out. Perfect! This has all the stuff I need. I press the buttons "D.E." (Which I presume means Dark Energy), "Electron and positron collision", and, finally, "Launch". I immediately hear a sort of siren go off, and the countdown clock on the wall lights up bright blue, displaying 00:15:00, and does its job, that is, counting down. I head over to the security station on the other side of the room, and try to find Tali on any of the numerous screens, but then I remember, Tali and I are practically invisible to them, so that's to no avail.

My omni-tool, which I haven't closed yet, beeps. I open the link to Tali:

"Alex? I need your help down here…"

A'/N: I'm sorry I couldn't finish this in one go, so I released what I had at the moment, because you guys have probably forgotten all about me). Here you go, next one coming up soon!

P.S. I hope.


	8. Event of great ConCERN

A/N: The one you've been waiting for! I can't really say anything about the delay, only that is I could have more time to write, I would. Please, for the love of god, write a review: this is the most intense chapter yet, and I would love any expressed opinion.

"Alex? I need you help down here..."

Oh crap. This sounds serious. "Is everything okay?" I ask. Tali responds: "Yes, I'm fine, but I can't access the detector chamber itself. The blast door locked itself when you started the cycle." Oh yeah, didn't think of that... Tali continues: "I need you to come here and deactivate the blast doors. That does, however, mean that you have to take the tunnel here. That's the problem: the tunnel is super-cooled so that the magnets can work better. That means that the air there is about twelve degrees Kelvin, just a little warmer than absolute zero." Yeah, that could be a problem... "I'll try to come up with something." I cut the link.

Hm... maybe there's some way to get to the tramway without going through the tunnel itself. I check the tunnel access door; locked. Wait, didn't that daft guard leave his key in the door? I look back to the entrance; Bingo! I grab them and fumble with the lock, trying to find the right key.

Someone tries to open the door.

Shitshitshit!

I drop the key-chain, which falls to the floor with a loud clash. I feel blood rush away from my face, effectively making me pale as a sheet.

The door handle turns again, and someone shouts:"I know you're in there! Open this door!"

I feverishly pick up the keys and finally unlock the door to the trams and tunnels. The man outside bangs on the door again: "Whoever you are, you're in big trouble!" Grabbing my stuff from the table, I rush into the hallway beyond the unlocked door, and lock it just in time to hear what appears to be a broad shoulder connecting with the entrance door. Time to run! I sprint down the stairs; No time to think about how I'll pass the cold...

Except for when I reach the tunnel level, and feel the icy cold sting my face. Man, that's freezing! OK, there's a maintenance room over here. I unlock it and inside, find a bunch of lockers with tools and stuff. At one of the walls stands a large mannequin wearing some sort of protective suit; it is made of some sort of plastic and synthetic materials, and has an attached helmet and an air tank on the back, connected to a sealed helmet. The whole thing was a dark, metallic orange with an even darker green and black around the joints and connecting points. "Thermal protection suit: one size fits most" - said the plaque on the wall next to it. this is just what I need! Perfect!

I suit up into the gear; it's kind of big but not enough to impede my mobility too much. "Tali, I've found a way to pass the tunnel, I'll be there ASAP." - I raise Tali over the comm. "Perfect: they haven't spotted me yet, but I'm getting some radio chatter about an intruder in the control center. You need to move." I close the channel and leave the maintenance room, only to hear heavy footsteps coming from the stairwell. Damn! Grabbing my crowbar from the bag, I start down the hallway towards a corner; I round it and crouch behind the bend. I think I can immobilize the guard for a short while 'till I reach an area where it's too cold for pursuit. The stomping grows louder, and I prep the bar, holding it at the ready. Any moment now... As soon as I see a foot pass the corner, I swing the bar as strong as I can, letting out a grunt while straining to keep the crowbar in by hands as it impacts the man's shin.

Crack.

The guard hollers in pain, tumbling face forward into the wall in front of him: his nose and chin crash into it, spraying blood over the surface, halting his momentum and abruptly ending his scream. He falls limply to the floor, his nose and leg at angles that look completely unnatural. Did I just kill him!? I check his breathing: he's still alive, but out cold. Man, I sure got him harder than I intended to... but at least he'll be in no condition to follow me when he is awake. Great: I'm wearing an orange hazardous environment suit wielding a crowbar in an underground research facility trying to send an alien back into their home dimension. All I'm missing is a goatee and a pair of glasses and I can safely say I'm as close to being Gordon Freeman as anyone ever could be. In this universe, at least.

Now, back to the task at hand. I leave the guard where he is, and continue to follow the twisting hallways until I reach the tram station. The cold air burns my lungs, so I seal the helmet and breathe in the warm air from the tank. It's a little stale and dry, but my scuba diving experience allows to ignore that. Come to think of it, this is pretty much like a heavy duty drysuit. The tram isn't here, though, and the power is off. Guess I'll have to walk... man, it's dark in there!

I switch on the flashlight on my phone-tool-thing, light up the floor in front of me. Ok, here's a place to get down to the tracks; I jump down, and follow the sign in the direction of the detector station. The walls are covered in cables and pipes, and are surprisingly dry for an underground tunnel. I shine the light in front of me; it lights up the floor and walls, but in front of me the blackness remains unchanged. Ooh, creepy. "Ok, Alex, just keep walking." I start down the tracks at a fast pace: they might have realized where I was headed and headed towards Tali. The hiss of every breath I take and the hum of the LHC behind the wall the only sounds penetrating the silence of the tunnel.

Five minutes later, I arrive at the familiar ATLAS station, also unlit. The door to the main chamber is unlocked. I enter, and there, just as yesterday, looms the giant machine, humming and whirring as the particles zoomed through it at near light-speed. I rush up a few flights of the catwalk, and enter the control room. Here it is: unlock the blast door. Through the glass pane separating the main chamber from the control room, I can see the door open, and Tali runs in shortly. "Alex, they're right behind me, close the blast door!" - my omni-phone crackles to life. Alright, hit the button again. Great, so the security should not bother us... for now. "Tali, I'm up here in the control room." I wave my hand and she spots me. Not long after, she arrives here.

"Now, as far as I understand, we need to trigger the collisions, right?" I ask the quarian machinist. "Yes. That should trigger a release of dark energy, which I'll come in contact with and "teleport" back to the Haestrom system, hopefully in my escape pod." Well, this is it, I guess. Last goodbyes. "Tali, the last few days have been an amazing experience, one I'll never forget." Tali places a hand on my shoulder. "Same here. I only regret not being able to repay you for all that you've done for me." I nod, and turn back to the console.

"So, what do i do?" - I ask. "When I give the signal, you should hit this button over here" - Tali points to a green button in the corner of the console - "And that should cause the collision. Then, you need to get out of here, before you get caught. I can't imagine the amount of trouble you're in now..." She trails off. I give her a reassuring pat on the arm: "Don't worry - I'll get out of here. If there's anything i've realized over the past few days, its that I improvise more or less well." She nods, and walks out to the main chamber. I watch from the control room as she ascends a few more levels, and is now a little above the main pipe of the collider, a good place to jump from if she intends to do so. She takes a few scans with her omni-tool, and raises me on the comm: "The collisions should start a localized cascade event, generating bursts of dark energy at varying intervals. when the collisions end, so should the dark energy production, and it will eventually dissipate, so you don't have to worry about that. Start the process. Keelah se'lai." "Keelah se'lai." I respond, and hit the green button.

The collider hum grows louder, and I hear a whooshing noise every few seconds, as if a giant wave hits the shore and retreats back into the sea. Flashes of blue and purple light start emanating from the detector's main tube with every whoosh. Ripples of dark purple encircle the pipe, spinning around it and growing in size and number with every flash. Soon, the ripples start colliding and forming larger holes, which i can only assume to be apertures in time - space itself. What a marvelous sight!

I turn my attention to Tali: she stands atop the edge of the platform, with one of her fingers bent down. She bends another one; it's easier to count to three when you only have three digits. She bends the final finger, and starts running towards the edge. Reaching it, she leaps, her hands waving as she gains speed right at the dark-blue holes.

With another flash, she's gone.

I don't move for a few moments, my jaw open and eyes wide. Then, above the sounds of the quantum events happening before me, i hear faint, quick footsteps; someone has reached us!

I glance over to the ground level: several bulky men, accompanied by one feeble-looking man, wearing the same orange protective suits as mine, ascending the first flight of stairs, up to where I am.

SHITohSHITohSHITohSHIT!

"Aw _hell_ no.." I mutter. Time to boogie! I grab my bag and crowbar, and head out of the room. Crap, They've covered off the only stairs down! The only way left is up, Which is where I head. The feeble-looking man enters the control room which i was just in, and fumbles with the controls, but nothing happens: the flashes continue, and so does the growth of the warped holes. The bulky guys, on the other hand, seem quite intent on capturing me: I've already reached the top level: There's no way from here but down. The one nearest to me is on my level. I raise my crowbar; whoever he is, i can't let him stop me from leaving. He is quite intimidatingly large though… I back away slowly, reaching the end of the platform, which, oddly enough, has no guard rails. The man raises his hands and approaches me: I respond by letting out a shriek and swinging my crowbar at him, intent on hurting him before he hurts me. He dodges my badly-timed swing and grabs the bar, yanking it and trying to wrestle it out of my hands. Oh no you don't! I pull back, and try to kick his nether regions. I succeed, and he let's go, resulting in me staggering backwards… onto thin air. before i realize what's going on, the platform i was just on rushes past my eyes as i plummet down, facing up. There should be another platform below me, shouldn't there? Maybe I can land on it safely and get out of he-

I hit the guard rails with the top of the air tanks on my back, resulting in waves of pain going up and down my spine. "Argh!" I exclaim, flipping over and now falling face forward, straight towards the tears in reality I just saw Tali enter, and the next thing I know, I feel all my hairs stand up as i pass through it.

I open my eyes: before them is only an empty expanse of stars. I breathe in; air - I can at least breathe at the moment… until i hear a hissing sound. I reach to the back of the suit, and feel a jet of air hit the gloves. I gasp "The valves…" They must have been damaged from the fall. I draw in more air, but with every breath it becomes harder and harder…No, I can't go like this! I can't go like Shepard, I don't have a Cerberus to bring me back! I can't… It's not….

I black out.


	9. A Brave New World

"...Don't you dare switch off that machine, Thaal! He will survive, just give it some time!"

"Ma'am, The recompression chamber has been working for hours. If he does come out of it, there's no telling what the oxygen starvation has done to his brain. It's highly likely he'll stay comatose for time indefinite, even if he does survive."

"I gave him an oxygen mask as soon as we got him on board."

"I know that, ma'am, I was there. As I recall, he was also asari blue. It's rather amazing that he was still breathing and his heart was still pumping blood, in fact. The only thing he has going for him is that he's human - they might be more resistant to such trauma than quarians."

I am... alive. That much I know. I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else. Thinking in general, in fact. I think I'll just lay here a little more... I open my eyes, but my vision is a cloudy and blurry. I turn my head.

Pop-pop-pop.

Ow! Another thing I'm aware of is that my phone and my earpiece are on me.. I stir, but all my joints hurt like hell from the slightest movement. I can't stay like this; I sit up, and realise I'm laying in a confined space when my head hits a metal ceiling. Oh-ow! That hurt way more that it should. I lay back down.

"Did you hear that? I think it came from the recompression chamber!"

"Open it!"

I hear a hiss, and a few moments later, the whoosh of a door opening. I prop myself up on my elbows, making sure not to hit my head on the low ceiling. I think my vision is getting a little better... I see two shapes move around in the room. "He's awake." - comes from the green splosh. A black-and-purple blur moves toward me rapidly, and stops by my side. "Alex? Can you hear me?" - comes Tali's familiar voice. I turn my head to face the blur, wincing as my neck complains loudly. I speak weakly: "Tali? That you? Where am I?" She chuckles, turning to the green splosh: "I told you he would be alright." She turns back to me. "You're on the frigate "Sur'tan", they responded to the distress signal sent out by my ship before it disintegrated. I was in my pod when you appeared… I manipulated the pod's mass effect field to pull you in, had to depressurise the passenger compartment in order to get you in there. I thought you…" The (still extremely blurry) shape turns away - "I got you so sick-bay as soon as I could. Most quarian ships are fitted with a recompression chamber, what with all the maintenance that has to be done on the old ships and the ensuing accidents."

I smile: "Well, tell the doctor - Thaal, was it?- that i'm grateful for all he's done to help… I can't see worth a crap though." The green blur approaches, and the doctor speaks: "Yes, that's… problematic, and I'm not entirely sure how to treat it: your vision may have suffered from the decompression in your suit. Now that you're out of immediate danger - and stable, I'll have to report to the captain - he's been stressing out over this matter ever since miss Zorah brought you onboard." And with that, he leaves.

"So how did you end up here? I thought you were high - tailing it out of there as soon as I went through." Tali asks. "Well… There was a complication. In the face of a few angry looking hulks intent on getting me. It tends to piss people off when someone - a kid, no less - almost causes a cross-dimensional crisis by using their super-duper new particle collider. It was an accident, i swear - one moment i was wrestling away from an Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator, and then -Bam!- I'm in space with a suit rupture. That escalated quickly. by the way, where is all my stuff?" Tali responds: "It's being scanned and decontaminated now. The captain was a little apprehensive about taking you on board - it was, after all, supposed to be a covert mission only the Migrant Fleet Marines and a few top scientists were aware of. After I told him your story, however, he agreed to allow you on. I - we - owe him a favor. He will want to speak with you later, though. For now, you need to get some rest." I chuckle and lay back down: "I will. I guess we've settled that debt you owed me, eh?" "Tali walks to the door: "I guess we have. I'll see you later." And walks out.

Now I have some time to think, which is much easier than it was a few minutes ago. I'm in the Mass Effect universe, and in a short while, shit is about to go down. Right about now, Cerberus is putting it's final touch on Shepard's rebuilt body. Getting spaced sucks. Badly. I barely survived, and I was only out there for a few minutes. Shepard, though, also made a non scheduled atmospheric reentry, and only remained intact (physically) thanks to his hardsuit.

But at the moment, the more important matter is that I am here. I mean, yeah, Being here would have been a dream come true a week ago, but now that I'm here... I have no family, no money, not even an identification. The quarians will probably hand me over to the Alliance and I'll get put in an orphanage for the next two-three years, and the galaxy doesn't have that long - especially Earth. I am from a parallel universe, and the past no less. What if they'll want to run experiments on me, or if they won't, Cerberus will - I don't expect any less from the Illusive Man. I should sleep now - my head still feels like it was split open with an axe.

"Alex'*******? The captain requests your presence in the comm room. I'll show you the way when you're ready."

Ah, and I was having such a nice dream involving a new PS4... I open my eyes; my head is much , but still throbbed with a slight migraine. I sit up. Before me I see a green blob, it being doctor Thaal. Looks like my vision hasn't improved. "Alright, I'm ready. Where to, doc?" - I ask. "Not so fast: you'll have to put on your "suit" (I think he made air quotes), we can't have you walking around the ship contaminating everything you touch and breathe on. No offence." I get off the bunk and grab a hold of it, because as soon as I stood, I got very dizzy and lightheaded. I frown: "Uh-huh. Just tell me where it is." "Over on the table there. Here, let me help." The green blur walks over to me, and I feel a three-digit hand on my shoulder. He guides my unsteady steps to the other end of the room, where the familiar orange-and-green suit. I frown again: "Did you guys fix it? It would be pretty pointless otherwise." Thaal hands me the sleeve and stands back while i pull it on, mostly by touch. I secure the seals, and breathe in the dry air, drawing a low, reassuring hiss. "We fixed it, and also added one important thing - instead of only drawing air from the tanks, in a stable atmosphere it will filter the air to use instead of wasting reserves." - finally replied the doctor. I turn to face him. "Thanks. Where do I go?"

Dr. Thaal motioned (I think) with his hand, and started towards the door. I followed him out, where, to my surprise, stood two red blurs with what looked like M8 rifles. What the hell? I look over to the doctor. "Sorry for this, but you ARE aboard a quarian military vessel, you must understand…" Oh, fine, not like I planned to mess your stuff up. "Whatever." I follow him through some halls, a slow elevator and another hall, the marines following suit. Many other shapes move around, stopping and staring at me. Finally, Thaal comes to a halt before a door. "Though here." He presses a button on the glowing orange holo-panel, and the door slides upwards, out of view. I walk in, and hear the door close behind me just as quickly as it opened.

The room i'm in is large and dimly lit. On the opposite wall is a large window, Before which stands a dark silhouette. The gray-clad figure shifts. "So you are the human miss Zorah brought on board. As I heard, you're a lucky man to survive being spaced, and although your vision is damaged, you came out pretty much unscathed. That in it's own is rather puzzling. But what perplexes me the most, is how a young human in a derelict suit appears out of nowhere, deep in Geth space." He turns to face me: "Care to explain?" I sigh, and walk over to the window. Man do I wish my eyesight was alright; the view must be spectacular. I speak to the captain, still squinting out into the void. "Well sir, i'm not entirely sure of it myself, from a purely physical standpoint. I take it, Tali'Zorah already filled you out on her side of the story? - I turn to him. "Yes, and a bit of yours, too. As I understand it, The ship that was originally sent here was destroyed, miss Zorah barely escaped on an escape pod, and was… "teleported" to your dimension."

I nod, and continue the story: "That's right sir. She appeared in my living quarters, and I decided to help her get back. I wouldn't call it a different dimension - rather a alternate universe, though. We made it to a research facility on Earth that studied dark energy, and used their particle collider to generate dark energy, sending Tali back here. I fell into the anomaly by accident, as a result of trying to escape the security forces. That's also when i got my suit rupture, just before getting zapped… here." The captain remains silent for a while, and says, with a hint of surprise: "So you risked both your freedom and life to assist a member of the Migrant Fleet, a woman you have never met before, in returning home. That is quite admirable." His tone shifts back to neutral: "I'll be honest with you; I don't trust humans. Your race is new on the galactic arena, but has already gained prejudice about my people. But you have shown that maybe humanity isn't just like the Turians, Asari, and those damned Volus: among them, I've only ever felt out of place, barely tolerated by them. They view us as a race of thieves and scavengers, a blight on galactic society they would rather forget, but never forgive. But the real question is -what do we do with you?"

Darn, I was wishing that I wouldn't have to discuss this before I speak with Tali. Apart from an Alliance orphanage, I don't have that many options... but maybe I can stay with the Flotilla for now? No, that's absurd. I could try to get Tali to let me stick around until Shepard rolls in, but, alas, i am here and she is not. "I don't really have anywhere to go, sir."

The captain thinks for a while, and I could almost see the yellow decision circle in his mind. "I'll give it some thought. You should go back to med bay now, get some rest; you haven't recovered entirely yet. Speak with miss Zorah, she may come up with something." I nod. Well, at least he gave me some time. I turn around and head back to the door. is slides open, and once more I am escorted down many corridors until I arrive at the now-familiar sick bay.


	10. Quality Family Time

A/N: Happy N7 Day, everyone! Did you miss me? Regardless, I offer my sincerest apologies for such a long delay - there's been a lot going on, and I never had much time to begin with. Also, a large portion of this chapter had to be rewritten - I was reading Mass Effect: Ascension and realised that the way I was describing the quarian people wasn't entirely correct - so I had to scap a section of this ch. and finish the book first, just to be sure. Anyway, tell me what you think about this uncharacteristically long chapter in the review section!

-agardner99

"You think you should stick with me? I guess I could try… I'll have to discuss this with the admirals."

Tali turns away, looking out into the window. "Tali, I don't know anyone here apart from you and the commander. If I get taken to the Systems Alliance, they'll put me in an orphanage, and I'll be stuck in there until the Reapers hit Earth. This way, I might even get to meet Shepard, maybe help him along." Tali turns back to me: "I don't doubt that it's a good idea, but the admiralty board might disagree. I was on a top secret mission, after all," - She looks out of the viewport - "I could try bringing it up only with auntie Raan, or maybe my father - he's an admiral,by the way - instead of the whole board. His say is almost as valid as their unanimous decision concerning this type of matter."

I smile; this is working well. far better than my eyes are though: They don't seem to be improving, and the doctor hinted that the damage might be permanent. That really shook me; I couldn't even imagine life without being able to see well - books, art - would all be lost to me. But he quickly assured me that there are ways to treat the damage. He said that when - if - I come along with them to the fleet, he might be able to fit me with a set of implants. If he has the necessary equipment there, that is. At first, dr. Zear'Thaal was a bit of an ass, but I got to know him as a rather decent person, if a rather strict one.

We entered the system that the Migrant Fleet was in the next day. The whole time, I was restrained to Sick Bay, but at least they gave me back my stuff. Tali checked up on me every few hours, but apart from those short talks, I was bored out of my mind; without being able to see much, I wasn't even able to study the room I was in, which is a shame; I would like to find out about the tech used here. Tali had to help me find a power source to charge my phone; surprisingly difficult to find a 220 watt alternating current source on a starship. Eventually, she had to make one from an old power cell.

Food was also somewhat problematic; they only had some emergency levo-amino rations, which tasted rather horrible - like fish mixed with eggplant. I freaking _hate_ eggplant.

To sum it up, the trip was less than pleasant; not a good start to a new life in a new world, first impression and all that stuff. At last, we dock to one of the ships of the fleet. Sadly, Sick Bay has no windows, but soon after, Tali came around and told me to suit up; We're going to travel to the Rayya, one of the Flotilla's largest - and oldest - ships, to see her father. I put on the envirosuit, which I have grown used to. Beyond the door I am greeted once again by a couple marines. We are escorted to the airlock, which runs a full decontamination cycle before opening the door before us.

The interior of the ship looks - and sounds - pretty much like what I saw outside my room on the Sur'Tan: Lots of quarians talking, working or simply hurrying along somewhere - just like a busy city at rush hour. Cargo crates hung from the walls and ceiling, loosely attached with large nets. All of this I observe while Tali walks me along the halls, the two red-suited marines following closely, almost stepping on my heels. And then they say _we_ don't trust them.

Soon after, we stop in front of a door. Tali turns to me, concern creeping into her voice: "Look, let me handle this. Just try not to talk unless asked, look smart and not… you know… well, just keep quiet." I respond, somewhat annoyed: "Tali, I know how to blend into the backdrop when required; comes in handy when someone is talking to an authoritative person." Yeah, like my old school principal.. Man, she was a pain. Tali nods, and presses a few buttons on the orange panel floating before the door. "Come in." - comes from the panel in a commanding, slightly stern voice. The door slides open, revealing a large room, slightly larger than the captains cabin on the Sur'Tan, and definitely better-lit. In the centre of the room stood a large dull-metal table, atop of which stood an open computer terminal, it's semi-opaque orange screen illuminating the room and reflecting off of the tabletop. Behind the table stood what I could only imagine is an office chair in the future. On it, facing the door, sat a quarian in a dark - red suit, his elbows resting on the armrests as his hands connected under his chin.

When he saw Tali enter, he stood up. "Tali, it's good to see you again." He said in a more relaxed tone. Tali took a few steps forward, standing closer to Rael'Zorah, replying: "Hello, father." Rael sat down again, opening something on his terminal "I got vague reports of you arriving, but not on the ship you left on... and then there's the human you brought aboard," - He points to me - " Just what happened?" Tali sat in a chair opposite the table, and told the story of how she - and I - ended up here, while I stood off in the corner.

The whole time she spoke, Rael'Zorah listened without interrupting her, only shifting in his seat from time to time. It was otherwise difficult to judge his reaction, both because of my hindered vision and the tinted visor. When Tali finished, he sat quietly for a while, thinking over what she just said. Then, he spoke: "Well, that must have been quite an adventure." He turns to me - "I guess i should thank you for saving my daughter. It's a pleasure to meet you, Alex *******. You must be rather confused as to what to do next, and frankly, I don't know what to do with you either." I look to Tali, which also glances back at me. Que the question I've been waiting for her to ask: "Actually, I was thinking I should take him along for the next mission i go to. Think about it, Father; he has no identification, no family - not even anyone to contact! Doctor Zear'Thaal and I are basically the only ones he knows here." Thanks for not mentioning the Mass Effect video game part.. "I would need your permission to allow him to travel with me to my next assignment, as well as levo-amino acid rations."

Rael'Zorah mulled over this question for a while, probably weighing the security threat I might present versus the usefulness I might provide, whatever it might be in. Then, snapping back to reality, He simply asked me: "Is this what you want, Alex'******* nar Earth?" I responded immediately, maybe even a little too fast: "Yes sir. Tali is right: until a better option arises, this would be the best course of action." The admiral turned the chair back to face the terminal, and began typing away as he spoke: "Then I shall grant this permission, and may whatever consequences follow be on you, Tali. I'm sending you the necessary documentation."

I tried my best not to exhale to sharply, but the breath i held since speaking was beginning to sting my lungs, so he probably heard it anyway. regardless, he continued typing until he finally sat back in his chair, hands folded. Tali's omni-tool lit up and pinged, visibly startling her. She brings it up and presses a few things, nodding and lowering it once more. Her father spoke up again: "Tali, I have an assignment for you while you are away; however, I would like to discuss it in private, so Alex, if you would.." He pointed with his upturned palm to the door, leaving no room for misinterpretation, so I exited, greeted by the now-familiar two red blurs, who didn't seem to acknowledge that I was even there. With nothing else to do, I leaned against the wall of the narrow hallway we were in, opposite to guards.

Awkward silence.

"So… How's life on the Flotilla?" I tried to start a conversation. More silence. "I bet you don't usually get people teleporting in from other dimensions and eras… that you know of, at least." - I smiled, the smile quickly fading away as the guards simply glancing to each other briefly and then resuming their watch. Finally, the one closest to me sighed: "Look, human, we're under orders that under no circumstances are we allowed to speak to you. So why don't you spare both of us the trouble and just be quiet, ok?" - he deadpanned. I was about to respond, when the door slid open and Tali re-emerged from the room, the door immediately sliding shut behind her and cycling to orange. "We're in luck; I don't have any active duty scheduled for at least a few days, which means we'll be staying on the Rayya for now. I'll contact the doctor once we get to the temporary quarters granted to us during the stay." She nods to the guards and sets off. I follow, the silent guards trailing behind me, making sure i don't go anywhere but where Tali leads us. We travel through more busy hallways, not much different from the ones we came through.

Finally, We stop in front of yet another door - I'm not sure how Tali could even distinguish it from the rest of the doors lining the walls of the corridor. She waves her hand in front of the panel, and the door slides up and out of sight; inside, when Tali turns on the lights, is (from what I can make out) a couple bunks, a table plus some chairs, and some other unidentifiable furniture. Also, there was a small viewport, the sight of which made me resent my condition yet again - beyond it I could see only vague gray shapes of what must be the giant fleet. "You're free to go - I'll watch him from now on." - Says Tali to the guards, who immediately leave. I sit on one of the bunks - its pretty hard, only a thin mattress between it and the metal sheet below, and no blanket - only a small pillow. Probably hypoallergenic stuffing, haha.

"Um, Tali? Is there anything to eat for me around here? I don't know 'bout you, but I'm pretty hungry." - I ask. I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday, and it was approaching midday, according to my omni-phone, which I asked Tali to set to local time a few days ago - the holodisplay had large enough numbers for me to at least make out the time. Tali sits on one of the chairs and answers: "We don't have free access to food or medical supplies on the Flotilla - they are carefully rationed out. I have access codes for levo-amino rations, so we can go down to the shuttle bay and get some." I respond, nodding: "I guess. You should send a note to Thaal, see when he's free." Tali brings up her omni-tool and starts typing. She soon finished. "So, are you always so nervous when speaking to your father, or is it just me?" - I ask. Tali shifts in her seat: "Well, not usually, no, But he isn't exactly what i'd call a model father, either. I mean, he loves me, don't get me wrong, but he never really showed it like other dads do - the last time he gave me a hug was way before i even left for my pilgrimage, and he always had high expectations of me. He rarely had time to spend with me, always working away - for the wellbeing of the fleet, no doubt. Hell, he never even took the time off to reserve a clean room and show me his face" She set her hands on the table, folding them and laying her chin on her palms. Wow, that must have been hard for her.. "I bet he only has your best interests in mind though; he probably-" I was cut off by Tali's omni-tool bleeping - the doctor must have responded. Tali sits upright again and checks her mail. "He says he's free tomorrow around twelve. Let's go have lunch, and then.. well, I'm not sure what we should do then." I chuckle: "Well, no point in going sightseeing for me, right?" - I point out. Tali stands up and we exit the room, turning the lights out as we go.

Again, we travel through numerous hallways and elevators, making our way to the shuttle bay. I'm a little confused as to _why_ food is dispensed there, but who am I to ask? They probably have their own reasons for it. At last, we get there, and my _god_ is it crowded - there are people everywhere, digging through crates of stuff. I guess this is their way of trading - From what I remember, they brought any unneeded things here and everyone just takes what they need, returning it once they're done. What an interesting way to share... It is surprisingly quiet considering the amount of quarians present, though. Tali doesn't lead us into the crowd, but rather along the sides of the room to the far corner, where a line of people stand, waiting for their turn to receive supplies from the man behind the desk. each one would present him with something on their omni-tool and the male quarian would hand them a container, which I assume contains meds, food and other necessary things. We line up, and I have time to listen in to some of the conversations happening around me, though only a few were loud enough for my phone's translator to pick up. A couple of quarians standing in front of in the que, discussing my arrival, apparently unaware of my presence…

"I said it once and I'll say it again: having a human on board is a bad idea! we already did that

once, on the Idenna, and remember what happened then? an entire squad of human terrorists boarded and slaughtered over twenty of our people!" the other one vigorously shook his head: "Yes, but this one isn't a fugitive from Cerberus - if you remember, that was the only reason that happened. anyway, Admiral Zorah's daughter brought him, and I'm sure she wouldn't do it if she thought he was a security threat." The first on folded his arms and looked away: "Yeah, but i still think the captain should toss him out of the airlock or something… as long as the human is on board, the whole ship is in danger." The more rational quarian responds: "You don't really mean that. besides, the Gillian Grayson incident was…" He stops when I cough loudly, bringing my fist up to my mouth - a meaningless gesture with the helmet, done mostly out of instinct, but also to bring their attention to who's behind them. They snap their heads toward me, and just as quickly turn away, remaining silent. I don't know who Gillian Grayson is, but I remember Tali saying something about Cerberus attacking the Fleet. I'm pretty sure they won't be coming after me.

Eventually, our turn to receive provisions comes, and the man behind the desk glares at me while handing Tali the box with food and other things… I'm going to be getting a lot of that here, aren't I? "Thank you." - Tali says, turning on her heels and starting back to the room, motioning for me to follow. Tali and I return to the room we were living in, setting the contents of the box out on the table. Let's see here, we have… some sealed containers - Tali's meals, I imagine, and some meds - probably antibiotics, and some containers that looked suspiciously like the food I had on board the Sur'tan. Damn it, eggplant again! I sigh, waving the box to Tali: "Guess I can't complain, considering I'm probably lucky they even _had_ levo-amino food." Next box, I assume, contains some form of medication… Penicillium, maybe, or something more modern? "What's in here?" - I ask Tali. She looks it over: "General Purpose medi-gel. It's a form of emergency band-aid, antiseptic and tissue regeneration booster. Also helps battle infections in small doses. It's actually more of a battlefield emergency medication to treat heavy wounds. I guess they had no other human-compatible medication available." "Yeah, great thing to tell someone about to undergo surgery…" - I huff under my breath. "I'm sure you'll be fine," - says Tali reassuringly, - "the doctor wouldn't go through with it if he wasn't sure that you're safe."

Eventually, we've emptied the container and placed it under the table, both of us sitting at the table. Tali attaches one of her food-paste-tubes to the under-part of her helmet, muffled suckling noises emanating from behind her faceplate. I, on the other had, have no clue how to eat my meal without taking off my helmet. at least back on the Sur'tan, I had the whole Sick-bay to myself, freely removing my suit at will. Here, I'm not sure if I can do that; aboard the Rayya, some quarians walked around suit-less, not fearing a hull breach or a virulent disease on board one of the Flotilla's oldest ship. I haven't seen one during my stay here, but I was told there were some reckless enough to do that left. And I'm pretty sure this room isn't airtight. I draw Tali's attention: "Tali? I've, uh, got a question. I can't take off my mask here, right? So just how am I supposed to eat this?" Tali stops consuming the contents of her tube, and replies, tilting her head to one side: "Well… I hadn't thought of that… the only thing I can think of is using one of the clean - rooms, or maybe a decontamination chamber. Maybe we could fix that later though." I roll my eyes. Seriously?

After Tali Finished her meal, we made our way to the decontamination chamber, which was conveniently placed only a short walk from where we were. It felt rather awkward, standing in a small empty room eating crap-for-food and having Tali leaning against a wall, patiently waiting. I finished as fast as I could, making sure nothing was left in the package - I don't want to get hungry any time soon if I have to go through this ordeal for every meal. Once that was done, I re-sealed my helmet and we ran a full decontamination cycle before returning to the room.

I need to discuss something with Tali, before It's too late.


End file.
